This invention relates to a parts feeding and assembling system of high versatility which is convenient for use in assembling parts of a large variety or requiring changes in design from time to time.
One type of parts feeding and assembling system known in the art is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 940,353 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,898 and comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, a parts feeding device comprising a vibration feeder 1 and a magazine feeder 2, a conveyor chute 3 connected at its starting end to a parts outlet of a bowl 6 of the vibration feeder 1, a separation unit 4 located at a terminating end of the conveyor chute 3 for separating one part from another part as the parts are conveyed by the conveyor chute 3, and a pick-and-place type assembling unit 5 including chucks 8 and 8' for holding each of the parts separated by the separation unit 4 and each of the parts stored in an array in a magazine 7 of the magazine feeder 2 respectively and assembling same on a chassis 10 on a line conveyor 9. The vibration feeder 1 which is used for feeding parts of small size (particularly those parts which can be readily caused to vibrate) includes drawing-up means, not shown, disposed in the bowl 6 for arranging the parts in a desired order and in a desired posture, the parts being fed in the desired posture from the parts outlet of the bowl 6 through the conveyor chute 3 to the separation unit 4 where the parts are separated and assembled on the chassis 10 by the assembling unit 5. Meanwhile the magazine feeder 2 is used for feeding those parts which cannot readily be caused to vibrate, such as plate-shaped parts, and includes a magazine 7 in which plate-shaped parts 11 are set in a condition in which they are all correctly arranged with respect to front and rear, right and left and surface and undersurface. The plate-shaped parts 11 set in this manner are assembled on the chassis 10 while being maintained in the same posture, or, when the plate-like parts 11 are assembled in a condition in which the plate-shaped part 11 is standing at right angles as shown in FIG. 3, are withdrawn from the magazine 7 while being maintained in the same posture as they were set at the magazine 7 and have their posture changed on their way to the chassis 10 by posture changing means, not shown, into a right-angle position before being assembled on the chassis 10.
Some disadvantages are associated with the parts feeding and assembling system of the prior art. First, each part is brought to a predetermined posture and fed and assembled while being maintained in the predetermined posture. Thus the system can handle only one type of parts. That is, the drawing-up means on the bowl 6 is constructed to draw up the parts in a predetermined posture, and the conveyor chute 3 are constructed to convey the parts while restraining the parts in the predetermined posture. The magazine 7 is constructed in a plate-like shape which does not disturb the plate-like parts 11 set in a condition in which they are correctly arranged with respect to front and rear, left and right and surface and undersurface. Thus the bowl 6, conveyor chute 3 and magazine 7 are constructed to exclusively handle one type of parts, and when other type of parts are to be fed and assembled, the bowls 6, conveyor chute 3 and magazine 7 should be replaced by those which suit the shape of the other type of parts. For this reason alone, the parts feeding and assembling system of the prior art is not suitable for handling parts which have their shape changed from time to time or which are of a large variety but produced in small numbers.